Erik ten Hag left his Manchester United players in no doubt that they should be trying to win their Europa League group before their last-gasp victory over Omonia Nicosia on Thursday night.
The Red Devils left it late before Scott McTominay came off the bench to score the winner and sink the Cypriot minnows at Old Trafford. United have been playing catch-up in Europe since losing to Real Sociedad in the opening round of fixtures but have a realistic chance of topping Group E thanks to McTominay's heroics.
Avoiding a second-place finish is even more important as part of the new Europa League format, as teams which end up second in their group do not automatically qualify for the knockout stage. Instead, they must take part in a preliminary knockout round against one of the eight teams which finished third in a Champions League group.
As such, it was no surprise that Ten Hag "strongly reiterated" that United must strive to end up top of the pile in Group E. Reflecting on the result, goalscorer McTominay told BT Sport : "That's massive, that was the message before the game, it was strongly reiterated to us by the coaches, 'win the group'. Everyone wants to win the group, it's important for the games coming ahead. So, as I say, for us, it's massive."
United host Moldovan club Sheriff Tiraspol in late October for their penultimate Europa League group-stage fixture before travelling to Spain in search of revenge over Real Sociedad. The Red Devils were frustrated for much of their clash with Omonia and McTominay was pleased with the battling "team spirit" they showed to get over the line.
The 25-year-old added: "Credit to the team, we've got a real team spirit to keep going and fighting for your place all week. For us, their goalie was outstanding but we managed to get the goal.
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"There was a lot of space as they were sagging deeper towards the box, that was the place we could exploit that with shots on the edge of the box. I had three, one was not so good, the other two who maybe could've went in
"You have to be patient, Marcus [Rashford] had so many opportunities, he's been there all day, he's done pretty much everything but score. We hit the crossbar with Casemiro, their goalkeeper was different class. Fair play to them but we created enough chances to score."
Before resuming their European campaign, the Red Devils are aiming to build on last Sunday's victory over Everton when they welcome Newcastle to Old Trafford in the Premier League this weekend.
